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126. Near and yet so far
Man: "If I only had 'it', whatever 'it' is. I’m missing something. How in the world can I get it?"
Something was missing in the young ruler’s life. No one noticed, though. He was successful, good-looking and very, very rich.
But something was missing. He knew it, too. Can it be that the same thing is missing in your life as well? He had no peace about it. How could he get it? Jesus had to know the answer.
Man: "Good Teacher, what do I have to do to get eternal life?"
That was what was missing. Eternal life which begins with faith in Jesus and continues in heaven after we die. He wanted this.
Jesus: "If you want eternal life, then keep the commandments: Do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not lie, do not murder, honor your father and mother."
Man: "I’ve kept these commandments my whole life."
Would you have been able to give this same answer?
Jesus: "Then sell all that you have and give it to the poor. And come, follow Me."
When the young ruler heard that, he was shocked, for he was very, very rich. Sadly, he turned away. Money was more important to him than Jesus and eternal life were.
Girl: "Can’t a person be rich and still follow Jesus?"
Of course. The question is rather: What comes first? Let’s do an experiment.
Girl: "What is the candle for?"
I’m comparing the candle to Jesus, who is the Light of the world.
Boy: "Can I light it?" (sound of a match striking)
Girl: "It’s neat how it burns."
What would happen if I held a 100-dollar bill in front of the candle?
Girl: "The money would block out the light."
Boy: "I get it! Money was his highest value, and Jesus came second."
Girl: "It separated him from Jesus."
It could have ended differently. Now I’m going to hold the money behind the candle.
Boy: "Now Jesus comes first and the money glows."
Do you see how important the order of priorities is? In the rich young ruler’s life, money had first place. For this reason, as far as we know, he missed out on eternal life in heaven.
It‘s too bad that his story ends like this.
I hope that your life with Jesus has a 'Happy End'. Keep asking yourself if there’s ever anything in your life that comes before Jesus.
People: Narrator, man, Jesus, girl, boy
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